The Ark of Laughing Dogs Agility Center

03/17/2024

Awesome representation from Wisconsin @ AKC Agility Nationals !!!

03/17/2024

🐕

03/17/2024

03/11/2024

The Ark would like to give our best wishes to Rachel Evers, Vex and Gator during the AKC competition in Georgia this coming weekend (March 14-17). May the Luck of the Irish be with you! 🍀

03/07/2024

Fun little course is up for the week...all contacts and the weave poles. Some interesting jumps into tunnels and a fun twist with a tunnel following the weave poles 🙂 My pups loved it and I hope yours will too!!

The plan is that the next course that will be set will be a take off on a USDAA course by Mike Murphy from the Purina Pro Plan Grand Prix in January 2024.

02/07/2024

I know a lot of you are working on contacts and distance so you may find this of interest. The course for this week has all three contacts out, only 6 jumps, the tire, and 1 tunnel. It's pretty wide open for working distance and contacts. Just an FYI 🙂

01/27/2024

After some recent rentals, we refigured the course and found a gift card. If you thought you lost one, please pm Mark if you think it might be yours.

01/11/2024

Hi All,
I am experimenting with the virtual UKI courses while USDAA retools their virtual event. Rules are a bit different. I have enrolled in Week 133 in the agility 1, jumping 1 and speedstakes 1 for the 80x60 course. I will be setting these courses between rentals. The event is through Jan 29th. If anyone is interested in doing these courses, I will extend the offer that I do for USDAA...and that is, 30 minutes free to run and record these events. You do need to enroll prior to the closing date, however, which is January 16th.
Let me know if you have any questions. Run, Play & Have Fun!

01/09/2024

Katie Wee and Charlie had a good time tonight!
Katie- "Somehow a hard day or days seem to feel much better after spending some time with this boy. Doing the sport he is learning( and loving ) and a sport I’m really learning to love …. Like a lot."

01/01/2024

Hi All...
Happy New Year! 🙂
For the next several days, we have the USDAA course set for standard agility. The courses are nested so you can run beginners, intermediate or expert level courses. This course has to be enrolled and submitted by Jan 5 2024. And then, according to their site, the program is taking a short break. https://www.usdaa.com/news/usdaa-home-is-taking-a-vacation.cfm
This is the course...set with a teeter. Let us know if you'd like a free rental for the purpose of filming and submitting the course!!

12/29/2023

A 4G camera card was found in our parking lot. If it may be yours, let us know.

12/27/2023

From our Gang to yours....Wishing all of the friends of the Ark of Laughing Dogs a very joyful Holiday Season. Our best to you in the New Year for fun and challenging courses, training sessions filled with laughter and discovery, satisfaction with your trials, and plenty...plenty!!...of down time to just enjoy your furry sidekicks.
It has been our pleasure to provide you with a place to play in 2023, and we look forward to seeing you soon in 2024.

-Lacey, Aolani, Samson, Delilah, Santa, Chilly, and Dasher2.0 (oh and of course Melissa & Mark)

12/21/2023

Gentle reminder....... Purchase before 12/31/23

Buy 'em for yourself or for a friend!

They are good through 2024.

Merry Christmas to one and all 🐕

12/03/2023

USDAA@Home Map/Course for this week

I will have the USDAA@Home course #114988, #114986, and #114985 set from Tuesday 12/5 - Sunday 12/9. This is a jumpers course and involves only jumps and 1 tunnel. The map is for the 50 x 60 course. These courses are valid from 12/1 through 12/15/2023. Entry deadline is 11:59 EDT on 12/15 and score reporting deadline is 12/16 at 11:59 EDT.

Please let us know as soon as possible if you are interested in a free 30 minute rental to run and film this course. A quick summary if you haven't run these courses before.
*This course is nested...that means you can do the Beginners, Intermediate and Expert levels on the same course by renumbering.
*There are two courses for each level and you need to complete both successfully to submit for a Qualifying entry.
*If you need help filming, Mark can help out. He's a pro at this as he records all of my runs.
*Read the briefing notes on the USDAA@Home page for the rules and scoring. It goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway!) that the times are more generous at the Beginner and Intermediate levels.

11/28/2023

Buy 'em for yourself or for a friend!

They are good through 2024.

Merry Christmas to one and all 🐕

11/26/2023

There has a been a number of reports of a mysterious dog virus. You may have seen these reports in print, online or on the news. We are happy to say that our recently added far UV lights will kill this virus/bacteria. It may take a bit longer (a couple of minutes) to kill but the lights will lower the rate of any infectious processes in the air. So again, for you and your running fur babies, there’s an added level of protection to keep you both feeling your best.

From the Milwaukee Journal, Nov 22, 2023
Recently, veterinarians, animal shelter workers and dog owners throughout the United States have become increasingly aware of a mysterious respiratory illness affecting dogs that often does not respond to antibiotics.
A wide range of symptoms have been reported in infected dogs, including flu-like symptoms, cough, nasal discharge, fever, pneumonia and kennel cough-like symptoms. However, labs across the country are still unsure of what's causing this increased rate of respiratory illness in dogs.
National media outlets, including the New York Times and AP, have reported on cases of the illness in numerous states, notably Colorado, Massachusetts, Oregon, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. However, veterinarian Dr. Keith Poulsen, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, said every state, including Wisconsin, has probably seen cases of the new dog respiratory illness.

And, same article:

Veterinary experts are currently unsure of the viral or bacterial culprit causing increased rates of respiratory illness in dogs.
"What we're seeing is multiple different states seeing different types of respiratory disease, and there are some outbreaks that we're not getting an answer to with our in-depth diagnostic tests," Poulsen said.
The full article is here: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/health/2023/11/22/new-dog-virus-respiratory-illness-has-wisconsin-veterinarians-stumped/71676201007/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/11/21/dogs-respiratory-illness-symptoms-states/

And while this is a given, if your dog is showing symptoms of a cough or not feeling well, it’s probably best to give some rest and keep them at home.
Let us know if you have any questions.

The disease is causing chronic coughing and pneumonia in potentially hundreds of dogs across several states. For some owners, it has meant an untimely goodbye.

11/04/2023

Many of you have already heard – and seen! - but we’re officially announcing the addition of Far UV lights to our facility. When they are all installed, there will be 5 upper room lights, two lights over the center of the course, and 6 wall Far UV lights.

What does this mean for you? Nothing really…except cleaner air for you and your dogs. ☺️

The Far UV technology removes bacteria and viruses in the air. Within minutes, covid, RSV,the flu…are neutralized. AND…the same goes for things like dog flu and kennel cough!

We’ve worked with Far UV Technologies and with the new lights, our ceiling fans, and corsi boxes, we’re confident we have some of the cleanest air in SE Wisconsin for dog agility. There’s no increase in rental costs at this time. We look forward to providing you with a cleanair training experience soon!

10/27/2023

Congratulations to Rachel Evers on her podium finish at the CynoSport Dog Agility World Games this past weekend in the Grand Prix Finals. She & Universe (jumping @ 20 inches) finished third behind Janet Terry (Menty) and Kelsy Kirkpatrick (Endeavor). It was a great run 😊

And if anyone wants to watch some great runs, you can watch the recording found at the Fourleggedflix.com website. It was a great final course with very fast times and lots of faults on the running contacts.

08/31/2023

Congratulations to Katie and Charlie Brown on their progress with agility.

08/31/2023

Just a reminder that we are open and rental space and times are available.
And don't forget our Back-to-School discount. Pass the word to those who may not see this .

08/22/2023

Back-to-School Special!!!

It's that time of year!😊

We are offering a buy 1 Get 1 half off sessions.

Book 2 one hour rentals between now and October 15th for $45

Must book by September 15th to take advantage of the savings.

Book through Mark on Facebook or text us at 414-208-7496 or 414-416-8284.

08/03/2023

World Agility Championship IFCS /////2020
Location: Vaerestraat, 45 8720 Dentergem, Belgium
Date:

08/03/2023

Happening now through August 6th
https://www.facebook.com/WorldAgilityChampionshipIFCS?mibextid=D4KYlr

You can watch on 4 legged Flix on YouTube

https://www.facebook.com/100039928820702/posts/1015862073088077/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

World Agility Championship IFCS /////2020
Location: Vaerestraat, 45 8720 Dentergem, Belgium
Date:

07/22/2023

Katie introducing Charlie to agility The Ark of Laughing Dogs Agility Center

07/21/2023

Gift certificates are available for birthdays, Christmas or any special occasion you want to share with a friend and their pup.

07/21/2023

Dana and Donna celebrating Donna's birthday with their fur buddies.